Improvement in hay-rakes



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEO. WHITGOMB, OF PORT CHESTER, NEW YORK.

iMRovEM ENT iN HAY-RAKES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 21,712, dated October 5, 1858.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, GEORGE WrrrrrcoMB, of Port Chester, in the county ot' Westchester and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Horse-Rake; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figurel is a side sectional elevation of horserake constructed according to my invention. xx, Fig. 2, indicates the plane of section. Fig. 2 is a plan or top view of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the two figures.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A A are two wheels; B, their axle, and O C shafts ,or thills attached thereto, the shafts being braced, as shown at ct a a.. (See more particularly Fig. 2.)

D is the drivers seat, which is attached to the ends of springs b, the front ends of said springs being attached to the braces a. The seat and springs are omitted in Fig. 2 in order that more important parts may be clearly shown.

The back ends of the shafts or thills O O extend a tritle back of the axle B, and to the back ends of the thills, beyond the back part of the axle, a rake-head,E, is connected by joints or hinges c, the hinges being at the under side of the rake-head, as shown clearly in Fig. 1, so that the head may work thereon as a fulcrum. The rake-head E is parallel with the axle B, and a series of wire teeth, F, are attached, said teeth being coiled once or twice around the head, as usual, in order that they may have a certain degree of elasticity.

To the rake-head E a bar, F', is attached at right angles, and to the outer end of this bar two arms, G H, are pivoted, The front end of the arm G is pivoted to a lever, I, the lower end of which is jointed to the braces a, as shown at d, and to the lower end of the arm II one end ot' a treadle, J, is pivoted, the opposite end of the treadle being pivoted to the braces a, as shown at e. A treadle, K, is also pivoted to the braces et at e, and this treadle is connected to the front part of the arm G by a rod,f.

j L is a rope, which is tted on the teeth M, the rope being either looped around the teeth or the teeth passes between its strands, so that the rope may be raised and lowered on the A teeth.

The operation is as follows: The driver is on the seat D, his feet being placed on the treadles J K, by operating which the raketeeth F may be raised and lowered, an arbitrary or positive movement heilig given the rake in both movements. The head E, in working on the joints c, serves to counterpoise the teeth F. For instance, in depressing the treadle J the head E is turned so that its centerof gravity will pass over to the front side of joints c, and the gravity of the head will therefore assist in elevating the teeth F. The driver may at any time assist the feet by operating the lever I with his hand. The teeth F willnot penetrate or barrow up light ground,

as the rake-head E turns freely on its joints c, and this, in connection with the elasticity of the teeth, precludes the possibility of the groundbeingcutintobytheteeth. Atthesame time the teeth are kept down so that they will not be raised casually,`but still be allowed to conform to theinequalities ofthe ground. The

rope L prevents the hay from passing up toofar on the teeth F, so that the hay may always be readily discharged therefrom as the teeth are raised. If the hay were allowed to pass up closely to the head E, it couldnot be as freely discharged as it would in that portion of the teeth which, when raised, are nearly in a horizontal position.

I would remark that by attaching the lever I nearer to or farther from the end of the arm G the teeth F maybe adjusted higher or lower from the ground. This is an essential feature, for in raking grain the teeth does not require to be so low as in raking grass.

I do not claim the wire teeth F, attached to the head E, as shown, for such device mounted on wheels is in quite common use, and known.

as the wire tooth horserake 5 but,

Having thus described my invention, whatI claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The arrangement of the treadles J K, lever I, rake-head E, armsGH, bar F,joints c, and adjustable rope L, substantially as and forthe purposes set forth.

GEORGE WHITCOMB.

Witnesses:

WILLET MosEMAN, J r., EPHEAIM SOURs. 

